Chapter 88 Separation of Internal and External
On the morning of September 27, Paul Graiman was in the office looking through the report documents sent by Fulangang.
This document describes information about businessmen who are interested in cooperating with him so far.
After Paul convened a meeting of merchants in Port Fulan, many people signed up immediately. In the following days, people came to the Government Affairs Office one after another to express their intention to respond to the lord's call.
However, people in the Government Affairs Council suggested that we should not just hand over production technology and processes to others casually, but should first determine whether they have the corresponding qualifications and examine their credibility, financial resources and other information, otherwise nothing will happen. Once the operation fails, it will cause some negative effects and damage the sign of the Lord's Mansion.
Paul thought this suggestion was correct and ordered Fulangang Government Affairs Department to strictly check the information of registered merchants.
After repeated screening, it has been confirmed that 3 salt farms, 5 canneries, 6 paper mills, and 8 porcelain factories will be built in Fulan Port and its surrounding areas in the near future.
The cannery invested by the Lord's Mansion has also begun to build a factory near Huxin Town. I believe that soon a large number of cans will be sold to the Kingdom's army fighting in the south.
What’s interesting is that the authorized businessmen were crying and shouting that they would give a certain percentage of their shares to the lord. Seeing their insistence, Paul had no choice but to accept it with a smile. At that time, in addition to collecting taxes, In addition to technology royalties, we can also share dividends from profits.
It seems that these businessmen are still a little worried about themselves.
At this moment, he suddenly remembered something and shouted "Bernard".
The chief secretary immediately pushed in the door, came to his desk and asked: "What are your orders, Master Graiman?"
Paul said: "Help me get Director Ford and the Government Administration The supervisors summoned to the Lord’s Mansion, I want to announce something.”
“I will obey your order.”
The chief secretary turned to leave, and when he opened the door, Paul stopped him again: "Wait a minute, you'd better call Butler Philip over for me first."
…
Butler Philip soon came to Paul’s office.
Since having Bernard as the chief secretary, the old housekeeper's work has become much easier. Now he mainly handles some daily affairs in the lord's house.
Paul stood up. He was facing the old butler, stretched out his hand to the chair in front of the desk and made a "please" gesture, and said: "Philip, please sit down."
"This ..." Butler Philip's brain suddenly stopped. How could a master make such a gesture to a servant?
After a brief absence, the old butler suddenly panicked, and a terrible thought emerged from his mind:
"Isn't the earl going to fire me?"
Careful Thinking back on your recent work experience, it seems like you haven’t made any mistakes, right? So is this because you despise yourself for being old and useless, and want to send yourself home to retire?
The old housekeeper fell into a daze for a while because of his random thoughts.
Paul saw the change in the butler's expression. He walked around the table, put his hand on his shoulder, and forced him to sit in the chair with a little force.
He has great respect for this old housekeeper who has always taken care of him. In his memory, his mother passed away early in this life and his father was busy with territorial affairs. This old housekeeper has been pulling him up since he was a child.
Unexpectedly, the butler bounced up as soon as he made contact with the chair. Philip reacted and said in a panic tone: "How can a servant sit down in front of his master? Don't kill me, Earl."
Paul pressed him to the chair again and said: "Sit down, this is a request and an order."
Philip then sat on the chair.
Paul also returned to his seat and sat down. He clasped his hands together, leaning on the table with both arms, and looked at the old butler.
"Philippe, you have been working hard in the lord's mansion. My father and I have been taken care of by you for two generations..."
"Don't drive me away, Earl..." Philip suddenly burst into tears, which scared Paul. Big jump, how did he think of going there?
But in the old housekeeper's opinion, isn't Paul's opening statement just to fire him?
His parents are old members of the Graiman family, and have served in the lord's mansion all their lives. He has also been helping in the mansion since he was sensible, and became Paul's father's personal servant.
After the previous housekeeper resigned to retire, Paul's father handed over this position to him, which has been more than 20 years ago.
I have spent nearly 50 years of my life in the Lord's Mansion, and I have a deep affection for this place. If I suddenly leave to retire, I really don't know how I should live.
Paul hurriedly waved his hands and explained to the old butler: "Philip, I have no intention of driving you away."
"Think about it, the daily affairs in the lord's house are all It's up to you to take care of it. If you leave, there will be chaos here."
You don't want to fire me, that's great! Phillip felt a little settled.
He said with embarrassment: "I'm very sorry, Lord Earl, it's just my imagination."
But why is the Earl so solemn all of a sudden?
Seeing that the old butler calmed down, Paul breathed a sigh of relief, and then said:
"I came to you for another thing. Although it is not to fire you, I am also afraid that you will be emotionally disturbed. I couldn’t accept it, so I decided to talk to you first.”
As long as he doesn’t fire me, Philip solemnly said to Paul: “My lord, you are the master and I am the servant. I can only obey what you say. ”
"Then I said..."
"Uh...it's actually about the income and expenditure of the Lord's Mansion. I want to separate the finances into the inner treasury and the outer treasury. You are still responsible for the inner treasury, while the outer treasury is The library will be handed over to the Government Administration Council."
After hearing Paul's words, the old housekeeper seemed to have done something wrong, and asked in a voice that sounded uncomfortable, almost squeezed out of his throat: " Lord Earl, did I make any miscalculations?"
Paul said seriously: "Of course not. Every time I check the accounts, I don't find any errors or omissions. You manage the finances very well. "
Hearing what the Earl said, Butler Philip felt a little relieved.
In Paul's view, the income in the territory mainly includes two aspects:
First, taxes in the territory, including agricultural taxes, commercial taxes, and other taxes that Paul thinks are strange and varied;
< br>The second is the various industries under the Graiman family's name, including the production of farms in various places and the profits of various factories and shops.
The income from these two aspects is unified into the treasury of the lord's house.
Daily expenses also include two aspects:
The first is the expenditure on the lord’s private life, including Paul’s own food, clothing, housing and transportation, the maintenance of the lord’s castle, the salary of the servants in the palace, etc.;
The second is the expenditure on public affairs in the territory, including affairs at all levels. Official salaries, military expenses, building bridges, paving roads, digging ditches, etc.
The money needed for these two aspects also comes from the treasury in the lord's house.
On weekdays, Butler Philip is directly responsible for the lord’s personal expenses. The purchase of various supplies and the payment of servants’ salaries are paid directly from the treasury.
The expenditure on public affairs in the territory is budgeted in advance by the officials in charge, and then handed over to the steward Philip. If the budget is too large, the steward will report it to Paul first, and after Paul agrees, The steward withdraws money from the treasury and hands it to the relevant officials. If the amount is small, the steward Philip directly takes the decision to withdraw the money from the treasury, and then at the end of the month, the account details are given to Paul for review.
However, as various incomes and expenses increased day by day, Paul felt that it was time to readjust his financial management.
(End of this chapter)